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Simulate Local Search During Keyword Research

It’s no secret that every good local SEO strategy starts with the keywords strategy. For starters, Google Keywords planners can be a good tool, but you need to use advanced keywords strategies if you want to get better keywords. You can use related results from Google and social media discussion can provide a good idea about keywords people are using. We have made an extensive post on keywords research that will provide you a good idea about the keywords research process.

To get a better idea of keywords research, please read this post: The Most Comprehensive Guide on Keywords Research That Even SEO Gurus Would Love to Read

Now let’s get back to point. Since Google killed its location search filter in December 2015, simulating search results from different cities became much more difficult. Adding a location to your keyword has now become complicated as for the same keyword, search engines will show different results. So how you can do it:

Include the “near” parameter in the URL: Once you type your query, modify the URL by adding “&near=cityname.” It gives results as if you are searching from nearby places.
Use the “uule” parameter: Change each search result with a base64 encoded form of the “Canonical Name” of a location known as the “uule” parameter.
Use software for targeting specific GPS coordinates: Allow the algorithm to geotarget your keywords via GPS coordinates is the best way. Check out this list of software solutions for local rank checking.

Capitalize on Easy Link Building Opportunities

Link signals are considered the most powerful ranking factor for Google as it accounts for 29 percent of ranking factors, therefore, it’s the most important priority for SEO marketers; and so it should be your top priority for your local SEO priorities. But building organic links takes time. To get a faster results, you need epic content and a solid influence strategy in order to take advantage of link building opportunities.

Here are the places where you can actually look for the team’s link building opportunities.

1. Local business websites
2. Yelp and similar directories
3. Local press
4. Chambers of commerce

Fixing broken links is the easiest way of building backlinks. Just search for high-ranking posts in your niche for broken links.

Use Competitor Research to Discover More Backlink Opportunities

Competitor research can give you an insight into the link profile of your rival businesses. You can use competitor research tools and discover the link building opportunities which otherwise you cannot have seen.

1. Find out which sites are more prone to linking
2. Find out the relative domain authority of each site
3. Make a list of the most influential domains
4. Perform link outreach to the domains on your list

Optimize Google Business Listing

Google My Business page is considered the most important ranking factor in local SEO. The good news is that optimizing it is quite easy.

1. Claim your listing
2. Verify your account
3. Make sure that your business details are up-to-date
4. Upload high-quality business images

Curate Customer Proof

Nothing is more reliable than social proof. Using social proof such as customer testimonial is the most powerful content at your disposal. Reviews, testimonials, and case studies are extremely powerful ranking signal and persuasive pieces of copy that often decides. Getting customer proof is not very difficult.

You can also ask for reviews from them. You can offer a little discount for doing that and soon you’ll realize that you have a solid social reputation on all social networks.

Build a Citation Profile

Any local SEO expert can tell you the importance of having a strong citation profile and it’s also the most talked about points in the local SEO checklist. Mark Scully on Search Engine Journal writes, “You haven’t a hope of outperforming your local competition if you’re not investing a large proportion of your time into getting yourself listed on quality industry and city-specific citation sources.”

It can be done simply by taking out time for the common keywords used profusely for your industry and location. Identify for the organic results of the website, and then approach them to get your business listed.

Attracting local citations will be easier if you are a brand. That’s what you need to remember. Therefore, you need to focus on your core pages. Present your website as an irresistible brand. If you’re able to do that attracting citations will become easier for you. There is one more aspect, which is often ignored by people.

Campbell says, “It is also important to keep all the data on your listings consistent, using the same structure and information, and avoiding abbreviations as this will just lead to confusion with Google.” Using the above strategy will help you achieve good citations.

Using a Third Party for Local Citations & Listings

This is another powerful local strategy. You can outsource the local SEO strategy for the purpose of building citations and listings. Several third party businesses allow you to post local business listings such as NAP data, short and long descriptions, URLs, etc. They can use their connections to get that data on other websites. Some third-party vendors have also agreed with certain data providers that can get your job done. Some of these third-party services are:

• BrightLocal
• Moz local
• Yext
• Advice Local
• Whitespark

It is to be noted that not all of these service providers provide the same level of service, this is mainly due to the agreement they have with other websites. Some of them can submit to just 30 websites, and others like Advice Local can help you get hundreds of citations including links of your website.

Reviews Are Important

Ask any Local SEO Services expert about the importance of reviews in local SEO on Google, he will be quick to tell you how much it helps in boosting ranking. It will encourage others to visit your website. Getting good reviews to encourage others to visit your website. People do make decisions based on the reviews whether you are a hotel, car or real estate broker. If your local business is a service-type business or another business, reviews will really affect your business. You should have a very good strategy in place for dealing with reviews.

Therefore, local businesses need to request and encourage their customers to write reviews. They can offer them a little discount and cashback to take this extra pain. You can choose to offer them an iPad to any random viewer. That will encourage them to go extra miles and write a few good words for you.

They should also respond to any negative review quickly as they are left whether it’s positive or negative. If it’s a positive review, thank the customer. And for the negative review, come in the damage control mode quickly.

Often many local businesses take time to verify their local’s listings and are not able to offer prompt response to reviews. You can engage your employees to develop a strategy in and make sure they respond to every positive and negative criticism quickly. You can send a customer a letter or email requesting them to provide reviews after the product or service is delivered.

You can leave a place on your website where they can anonymously leave reviews. You can choose to create a comment box at your business.

However, Google attaches importance to reviews on third party sites. You should make a thorough strategy for these different sites. Here are the more important places where third party reviews are posted:

• Yelp (yelp.com)
• Trip Advisor (tripadvisor.com)
• Yellowpages (yp.com)
• Better Business Bureau (BBB.org)
• Manta (manta.com)
• Angie’s List (angieslist.com)
• Foursquare (foursquare.com)
• Facebook (facebook.com)

Final Thoughts

It is to be noted that not all of these service providers provide the same level of service, this is mainly due to the agreement they have with other websites. Some of them can submit to just 30 websites, and others like Advice Local can help you get hundreds of citations including links of your website.

constantly. However, once your solid link and social profile is created, it becomes easier to sustain in the long term.